Lessons Unwritten
by Whatsername Lambert
Summary: A collection of short oneshots that take place in the Lessons in Being a Man 'verse.
1. Chapter 1

This is going to be a collection of short oneshots that take place in the Lessons in Being a Man 'verse (speaking of LiBaM, the epilogue will be up shortly, just thought I'd throw that out there). There won't be any chronological rhyme or reason to these little stories. Some might take place after the wedding; some might take place back when Kurt was with Dave and Blaine was stuck in the friend zone. They'll kind of be all over the place, but I'm excited to write and keep this 'verse alive :)

I don't know if I'll be taking official prompts for these. If you have a situation that you'd like to see happen, feel free to suggest it, but I can't promise I'll write it. The main reason for that is because I don't exactly have extravagant amounts of free time, and depending on how many ideas I get, I may not be able to write everyone's. I also have a few ideas of my own for these little stories that I'd like to start working on, so I'll just kind of go with the flow and write whatever feels good.

In this first little installment, which is essentially a deleted scene from chapter 36, Blaine is home with Michael and Ellie the night before the wedding. Kurt is at the hotel with his father and Carole. The idea came from christinejaneanderson on Tumblr who asked me what Blaine and the kids did together the night before the big day, so I kind of took that idea and ran with it.

* * *

1

Blaine wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention, and Ellie was quick to notice.

She leaned across the couch to where he was sitting and tapped his arm to get his attention. Blaine looked up, almost as if he'd been startled, and quickly turned to face her without saying a word.

"You're not watching the movie," she said simply, nodding at his iPhone.

Blaine felt his face getting warm. "Yes I am," he said defensively, but all the same, he inadvertently tilted his phone away from her so she wouldn't be able to see the screen.

Either Ellie didn't notice that he'd been trying to prevent her from looking at his phone, or she didn't care. Given the fact that she was a curious seven-year-old girl, Blaine had a feeling it was the latter. Before he could react, she leaned over even further and took a peek at the screen.

"Why are you looking at that?" she asked, sounding understandably confused.

Blaine figured there was no point in hiding the truth now that she'd seen the picture he'd had open on the screen. He smiled, slightly embarrassed, but his happiness was genuine. At this point in time, it was difficult to be anything but happy.

"I'm just in disbelief," he told her honestly. "This was taken ten years ago, and now it's like…he and I are getting married tomorrow."

The picture in question had been taken backstage at Sectionals during their senior year. Kurt and Dave hadn't started dating yet – that relationship was still a few months away from blossoming – so at the time the photo had been taken, Blaine's soon-to-be husband was in the twilight of his days as a single man. Blaine couldn't remember the exact context; all he could recall was that they'd been goofing off in the greenroom during intermission, taking silly pictures and what have you. At one point, Kurt had held the camera out in front of them and snapped a picture as he leaned in and playfully kissed Blaine's blushing cheek, and it was this captured moment that Blaine had currently been staring at on his phone.

Blaine tried to think back and bring that moment back to life in his mind. He couldn't remember what they'd been talking about, but he remembered the way his heart had started to flutter and the way all the blood in his body had seemingly rushed to his face when he first felt Kurt's soft lips pressed against his skin. He remembered closing his eyes for a moment when Kurt had pulled away and scrolled back to look at the picture, wishing more than anything that he had the courage to tell his best friend how he really felt.

"But I didn't think you were boyfriends ten years ago," Ellie said suddenly, snapping Blaine back into the reality of the present. "Why's he kissing you?"

Blaine shrugged. "We were just joking around. It was just a kiss on the cheek, so I didn't think it meant anything. At this point in time, I never would have guessed that he had feelings for me."

Michael, who had been sitting at the other end of the couch texting Jake as he watched the movie (which none of them was paying any more attention to at the present moment), tossed his phone gently aside and moved closer to see what they'd been looking at.

"Hey, let me see." He looked at the picture for a second after Blaine tilted the phone toward him, then snickered. "Dude, you're blushing hardcore. Anyone could tell that you liked him."

Blaine studied his own face for a second. Michael was right – his face was a rather atypical reddish-pink – but aside from that, he didn't think it was _that _obvious that his teenage self had a thing for Kurt. Except for maybe the fact that his eyes were lit up with unmistakable joy, and his lips were pressed together into a tight-but-obvious smile, as if he were doing his absolute best not to completely burst from utter happiness because Kurt's lips were actually touching some part of him.

He couldn't help laughing a little bit as all these details became clearer. "It's that obvious, huh?"

"Yeah," Ellie said.

"Crystal clear," Michael agreed.

Blaine set his phone aside and clasped his hands behind his head. "I was seventeen when we took that picture. I'd had the biggest crush on him ever since we met, but I was _still _too scared to tell him how I felt. At that point I had no idea that his feelings for me were the exact same."

He exhaled a deep, content sigh and smiled ruefully. "I guess you can say I essentially friendzoned myself. I was already setting myself up for failure because I thought there was no way he'd ever go for a guy like me, so I kept my mouth shut. I figured I'd rather have him as a friend than not in my life at all."

Michael was smirking. "No offense, but it doesn't seem like you did a very good job of hiding that you liked him. Not in that picture, at least."

Ellie was interested in something completely different from Blaine's apparently obvious teenage crush on Kurt. "Do you have any other pictures?"

Five minutes later, the three of them were sitting on the floor in front of the TV, which had been turned off, surrounded by Blaine's beloved photo albums. He was the only person his age he knew that still kept these silly things, but for whatever the reason, he'd grown to love adding new printed photos to the pages over the years. After he and Kurt had gotten together, he'd rearranged the photos in the albums so that they showed the progression of their friendship and eventual love in chronological order (and, while doing so, he'd also thrown away any pictures that happened to include Dave). As he looked back at their past together, he was overwhelmed with disbelief as to how far they'd come.

"Is this me?" Ellie asked at one point, pushing the album she'd been perusing over toward Blaine and pointing at a photo on the page.

The picture in question showed a young, brand-new-dad Kurt holding Ellie, who couldn't have been more than a few months old, in his arms. For whatever reason, Blaine was in the picture, too. He couldn't remember where they'd been or why this picture had been taken, but now he couldn't stop looking at it. Both men had huge smiles on their faces, and to anyone else looking at this picture, it would have looked as if they were the couple that had raised the little girl Kurt was holding.

"That's you," Blaine told her. "See? You're just a baby, but you already look so much like Daddy."

Ellie smiled proudly and moved the album so that Michael could see.

"Do _you _see how much I look like Daddy?" she asked her brother happily. "He's my real daddy. I was a segregate baby."

"Surrogate," Blaine corrected her gently. "You were a surrogate baby."

Michael had already known this, but he decided to play along and pretend that he'd never known this before in order to make his sister happy. "Oh, wow. That's awesome."

They stayed up for about an hour more looking at pictures. Michael and Ellie would occasionally ask Blaine about a particular photo, and Blaine would answer to the best of his ability based on his memory of that moment. As he flipped through the pages of the past, he was constantly amazed at how naturally and comfortably their relationship had progressed. Even though they'd been nothing more than platonic friends for the majority of their lives together, he knew that they'd always shared something special. He could see it in the way they smiled when they had their picture taken together – they both wore huge, ecstatic grins that were much brighter than their usual smiles. They could each make the other light up in ways that nothing or nobody else could, and Blaine thought that was wonderful.

Tomorrow, though, he knew that a whole new kind of happiness would touch Kurt's face. Blaine couldn't wait to see the way Kurt would smile as the two of them met at the altar.

xxx

Kurt had been curled up in bed with his laptop, listening to music on his headphones and scrolling through the seemingly endless stream of "congratulations!" wall posts and messages he'd already received from his family and friends on Facebook, when a new Skype window popped open.

Blaine was video-calling him. Kurt bit back a smile as he paused the music and accepted the call.

The video appeared on the screen a few seconds later, and Blaine appeared to be in the same position that Kurt was in: warm and cozy in bed with his computer propped up against his knees. He was wearing a plain white undershirt and his hair was fluffed into its natural dark curls, devoid of any gel. He looked ridiculously gorgeous considering the fact that he was about to go to sleep, and Kurt didn't think that was very fair.

Still, he couldn't help smiling as he began the conversation. "Aww, are you calling because you missed me already?"

"Yes and no," Blaine told him, and Kurt was slightly taken aback until he explained. "I mean, yes, I miss you, but that's not the only reason why I'm calling."

"Fair enough." Kurt maneuvered himself so that he was lying on his side with his head propped up on his hand. He was still smiling at Blaine through the screen. "What's up?"

"I thought I'd show you how the kids and I have been spending the evening," Blaine said before holding up a photo album, open to a page full of images of the two of them at some point in their friendship.

Kurt burst out laughing for a second before shooting a surreptitious glance at his father, who was fast asleep in the other bed a few feet away. Burt was usually a pretty heavy sleeper, so Kurt wasn't too worried about his own end of the conversation waking his father up, but he didn't want to be any louder than necessary.

"Oh my god," he said after a few seconds, his voice much quieter. "I can't believe you still have those stupid things."

"I'm an old soul, okay? I love my photo albums," Blaine countered defensively, but he was smiling as well. "And you know who else also loves them now? Michael and Ellie?"

Kurt rolled his eyes playfully. "Dear god, Blaine, you're getting our children interested in something that's obsolete to everyone but you. What's next, are you going to buy them a VCR and some videocassette tapes for them to watch movies?"

Blaine was pretending to look hurt, so Kurt gave him a real smile and changed his tone. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I think it's cute how you still have all those old albums," he told his fiancé sincerely. "How many albums of us do you have, anyway?"

"Three or four, I think," Blaine told him; then, because Kurt must have looked shocked to hear that Blaine supposedly had three or four photo albums dedicated solely to the two of them, he added, "You realize we've known each other for over a decade. Lots of pictures have been taken during that over-a-decade."

"I know, I know, I just can't believe it," Kurt mumbled incredulously. "Ten years ago, I never would have dreamed we'd be getting married someday."

"I wouldn't have guessed it, either," Blaine told him, then smiled again. "You look adorable right now, by the way."

Kurt, well aware of the fact that he probably actually looked rather hideous, moved his arm up to cover his face.

"No, I don't," he murmured drowsily. "I'm exhausted. I wish you were here to cuddle with me."

"Y'know, your sleepy voice doesn't make you any less cute," Blaine told him honestly. "It kind of has the opposite effect. I want to cuddle with you too, by the way. Tomorrow. When we're married."

Kurt smirked mischievously. "And you and I both know what else gets to happen tomorrow night after we're married," he pointed out. "It's kind of a wedding-night tradition for all couples."

Blaine immediately caught his drift and began to play dumb on purpose. "I'm not exactly sure what you're talking about…care to give me some more details as to what we'd be doing?"

Kurt opened his mouth to respond, completely ready for some nice, pre-wedding Skype sex, but all of a sudden his father rolled over in the other bed and emitted a loud snore, effectively ruining the moment.

"Actually, no, because my dad is sleeping like six feet away from me and Carole's taking a shower in the bathroom, so she could walk out here at any moment," he told Blaine apologetically.

Blaine's face fell – he'd obviously been expecting something wonderfully erotic to start happening – but he nodded understandingly after a few seconds. "Okay, yeah, I can see how that could be a problem."

"I'll make it up to you tomorrow night," Kurt told him, smiling as he continued. "We'll be all alone in our gorgeous honeymoon suite, and we'll actually be together instead of separated by computers. Promise."

Blaine smiled in agreement. "I'm holding you to that."

They talked for a little while longer about less sexual things, and Kurt kept smiling even after they ended the call. He took his headphones out and shut his computer down right as his stepmother turned off the water in the bathroom sink, where she'd just finished brushing her teeth, and came over to get into the other bed next to a still-snoring (though not quite as loudly) Burt.

She nodded at Kurt's computer as he set it aside and smiled. "Your hubby?"

"Yeah," Kurt answered with a dreamy smile of his own. He pulled the covers up tightly around him and snuggled into the warmth as he rolled over to face her in the other bed. "That was him. By this time tomorrow, it'll be official."

"And I couldn't be more thrilled for you," Carole told him. "Nobody deserves this amount of happiness more than you do, Kurt. I couldn't ask for a more wonderful young man to call my stepson. I just know you two are going to have a beautiful life together."

Kurt took a moment to briefly consider the years and decades that he would spend with Blaine, and found that he was completely unable to imagine his life in any other way. The thought of forever practically made him swoon.

"Thank you. Thank you so much," he told her appreciatively. "It means the world to both of us to know that we've got such a great amount of love coming from our families."

He sat up and reached over to turn off the lamp on the bedside table, which had been the last source of light in the now-dark hotel room. "But I've gotta get some beauty sleep so I look good for him tomorrow. I don't want to meet him at the altar with gross dark circles under my eyes and make him completely regret the fact that he agreed to marry me."

"Y'know, something just gives me the feeling that he never would have said no to you," Carole told him. "Goodnight, Kurt."

He was still smiling as he turned over and let his eyes fall shut. Sparks of nervous excitement were already flying through every fiber of his being, and he knew it would be hard to sleep tonight, but he was going to try. The sensation was reminiscent of the feeling he would get before falling asleep on Christmas Eve as a little boy, only in this case it was a thousand times more potent. Tomorrow he would receive the best gift he ever could have asked for: Blaine's solemn promise to love him for the rest of their lives.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, apparently I didn't make myself clear enough before: this whole little series of oneshots is based entirely off of my recently-completed semi-AU future fic, _Lessons in Being a Man_, NOT off of canon Glee. I say this because some anon left me a really confused review on the last chapter that was all like "Hey this has nothing to do with the plot of Glee." I am aware of that. If you haven't read LiBaM, you probably shouldn't be reading this because it's probably super confusing.

This little installment is based off of two separate prompts from Laura (gottriplets). I thought these ideas were super hilarious so I knew I had to give them a try (I kind of changed the second one just a little bit for the ending, but it's still similar to what she suggested). There's a lot of Klaine, and a little bit of Michael and Jake (I don't have a ship name for them :P). If you're one of those people who is unfamiliar with LiBaM but you want to read this story anyway: Michael is Kurt and Blaine's adopted son. He's 15 here and in my head I picture him as looking like Benny Rodriguez from _The Sandlot_, probably because that's who I based his baseball-loving character off of. Jake is his boyfriend; they've been together for several months here.

Yay, hopefully that clears things up. Oh, and this takes place six months after Kurt and Blaine get married. Happy reading, and feel free to send prompts my way if you have an idea for something you'd like to see written! :)

* * *

2

Michael closed the door the second he was sure that Ellie had made it safely down the hall to the apartment where her friend lived. His dads had gone out, his sister was now at a wonderfully-timed last-minute sleepover to which she'd been invited, and he had the apartment all to himself. Well, actually, he thought as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed his boyfriend's number, he and _Jake _had the apartment to _them_selves.

He paced around impatiently as he listened to the phone ringing in his ear, freezing suddenly in place when Jake picked up and answered with a sexy-sounding, "Hey there."

"Hey yourself," Michael told him, trying to sound as seductive as possible. "So you'll never guess what just happened."

"What's that?" Jake asked in response.

"Ellie's friend who lives down the hall just called and invited her to a sleepover," Michael explained slowly. "My dads are out celebrating because it's their six-month wedding anniversary, so they wanted to go get dinner and I think they said something about catching a movie." It was only then that he realized he was smiling in anticipation. "Which means…"

"You've got the place to yourself," Jake finished. Michael would have given anything to see that look on his face as the realization struck.

"Yup," Michael confirmed. "I don't know, but I'm thinking you should come over." He was immediately grateful for the fact that Jake had gotten his driver's license just about a month ago, because now things like this were going to be so much easier.

He heard something from the other end of the line that sounded like car keys jingling. "I'll be there in ten minutes."

They hung up without saying another word, but Michael didn't even mind. All he knew was that this was going to be the longest ten minutes of his life.

xxx

"I can't believe this," Kurt protested, trying his best not to sound rude despite his impatience. "You have nothing for Hummel-Anderson? My husband made these reservations a week ago."

The hostess looked over the reservations list again – well, at this point, Kurt was pretty sure she was merely pretending to look over the list for his sake. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach that told him there had been some kind of mistake and that their reservation had somehow not made it onto the list.

But he had been looking forward to this evening for weeks now, so he wasn't giving up that easily. He leaned over the hostess stand just a little bit to try and see the reservations list, which was upside-down from his vantage point, but at least this way he would be able to try and see for himself.

"I think he called last Friday, if that's any help…'Hummel-Anderson' is spelled H-U-M-M-…"

"Sir, I'm so sorry, but I don't have it," the hostess told him, shaking her head as she cut him off. "There must have been a mistake."

Kurt resisted the urge to roll his eyes and instead forced a smile to the best of his ability. "Is there any way we could get a table even without a reservation? It's our six-month wedding anniversary and we were really looking forward to coming here to celebrate."

The hostess smiled apologetically and shook her head. "I'm sorry, we're completely booked all night."

The longer he stood there, the more unlikely it seemed that he was going to change anything. Kurt sighed and tried not to let his disappointment show on his face.

"All right, I guess. Thanks anyway."

He turned away and headed back to where Blaine was waiting. Blaine looked at him expectantly as he stood up from the bench where he'd been sitting and Kurt shook his head as he approached.

"They don't have it," Kurt told him. "They somehow lost our reservation and they don't have any more tables free tonight."

Blaine quirked one distinctive eyebrow in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"

"I wish," Kurt muttered as he sank down onto the bench; Blaine sat back down next to him. "I don't understand. Did they just not write it down, or what?"

Blaine shrugged. "Who knows. Do you want me to go up there and talk to them?"

"It's not worth it. Trust me, I tried. They're totally booked all evening and our name isn't anywhere on that list," Kurt told him. "We could try somewhere else if you want. The movie doesn't start until ten."

"It's Friday night. Everywhere is going to be crowded," Blaine pointed out, and Kurt nodded in agreement. "I don't think there were any earlier showings of the movie, but we need to kill time somehow. Was there anything else you wanted to see?"

Kurt shook his head. "Not really, no."

Blaine ran one hand absentmindedly through his hair and exhaled deeply as he thought.

"Okay, how about this." He turned his whole body so that he was facing Kurt. "We'll get out of here, pick up some pizzas, and head home. We'll give one of the pizzas to Michael and Ellie and take the other one to our room so we can eat and watch TV and snuggle. What do you say?"

Kurt, who had had a long day at work and had secretly wanted nothing more than to relax all afternoon, could suddenly think of nothing more perfect. "That sounds perfect. Let's go."

He stood up from the bench and took Blaine's hand, then they pushed their way through the crowded restaurant lobby as politely as possible and stepped out the front door into the crisp October evening. When they reached their car, Kurt hopped into the driver's seat and started the ignition while Blaine slid into the passenger seat and pulled his phone out of his pocket to order the pizzas.

As disappointing as it was that the restaurant had made a mistake, both of them were admittedly relieved that they could spend the evening relaxing at home. It had been a long week for both of them, and they were sure that they would have many other occasions to celebrate throughout their lives together.

xxx

Michael was pretty sure he hadn't stopped kissing Jake from the second his boyfriend had arrived, and he certainly didn't plan on stopping anytime soon. The pair hadn't even made it to the bedroom and was currently tangled in a heap on the couch, lips locked and hands exploring further than ever before. The two of them had managed to wordlessly agree that this was going to be a night of firsts, and the thought of going all the way with Jake thrilled Michael more than he would ever be able to explain. Everything about this felt so right, and for the first time in his fifteen years, he found himself wishing that the moment would last forever.

Before long, both of their shirts had been flung to the floor, and Michael found himself sandwiched between Jake and the couch, being kissed more intensely than ever before. He grasped at Jake's back to pull him closer, and he felt himself losing his breath as Jake pulled back just the slightest bit to look at him with those deep blue eyes.

"You sure you're ready?" Jake's voice was low, saturated with lust. Michael didn't think he'd ever sounded hotter.

Michael nodded. "Should we go to my room?"

Jake shook his head. "Nah. You're sister's gone for the night and your dads won't be back til later, right?"

"Yeah," Michael told him. "I don't feel like getting up. Let's just stay here."

"Good," Jake murmured, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I don't, either."

They kissed again, but their mouths didn't stay locked for long. After a while Michael pulled Jake closer and began kissing slowly down the side of his neck, causing the other boy to tremble against him. He was just about to sink his teeth into Jake's skin to mark him, when a sudden noise stopped him cold.

There was a key turning in the lock for the front door.

Michael and Jake shared a helpless glance, knowing full well that they had no time to do anything. Sure enough, the door swung open just then and Michael found himself looking at both of his dads with what had to have been some kind of ridiculous deer-in-the-headlights kind of expression on his face.

Kurt, meanwhile, was so shocked that he lost his footing as he stepped into the apartment and stumbled back against Blaine, almost causing his husband to drop the two large pizza boxes he held. The four of them stared at each other in stunned silence for a painfully awkward moment before Jake finally broke the silence, crawling off of Michael and reaching for his discarded shirt on the floor as he spoke.

"Um, hey there, Mr. and Mr. Hummel-Anderson." He usually referred to Michael's dads by their first names, at their insistence, but for some reason he felt he should show them as much respect as possible – after all, they _had _just walked in on Jake hooking up with their son on the living room couch. "You two are home early."

"The restaurant lost our reservation," Kurt murmured, his voice somehow flat and absentminded. "Michael, where's your sister?"

"She's at a sleepover. Her little friend down the hall – I don't remember her name – but she called about an hour ago and invited Ellie to spend the night, so I let her go."

He sat up and pulled his own shirt on as well, trying his best to smile despite the horribly awkward nature of the situation. "So, pizza? Cool."

Five minutes later, the four of them were gathered around the table with untouched pizza on paper plates in front of them. None of them could bring themselves to even think about eating until the elephant in the room was acknowledged, so Blaine decided to take one for the team and say what nobody else wanted to say.

"Now boys, um…I hope you both know that sex is a really, _really _serious and huge deal. It's not something that you should take lightly. You have to be completely sure that you're ready to share yourself with that person in such an intimate way."

He grimaced at how cheesy his own words sounded and shot a helpless glance at Kurt. "Oh, god, I don't know what I'm saying. Help me."

Kurt touched his hand gently to calm him down before turning to address Michael and Jake. "Guys, I know none of us want to be having this conversation right now, but Blaine's right. It's _really _important. I know this is extremely awkward, especially considering that the two of us-," he gestured to himself and Blaine, "were teenagers ourselves not too long ago, and being parents of a teenager is totally new to us. But the one thing I want you both to know is that it's _so _important to make sure you're being safe and doing this with the right person. You both are so young, and I want you both to be completely sure that you're not just having sex for the sake of having sex. It'll be worth so much more if you're absolutely sure that it actually _means _something."

"Wait, what do you mean 'we're both so _young_'?" Michael asked. "I didn't think there was a right or wrong age to do it. How old were you guys your first time?"

Kurt and Blaine looked at each other for a second, and Blaine took his husband's hand as he began to speak. He knew that Kurt's first sexual encounter wasn't easy for him to talk about, but in this case he needed to make it clear to Michael and Jake that this wasn't something that should be taken lightly.

"I was eighteen, just barely. Blaine wasn't my first. I-it was with my ex," Kurt admitted. Michael and Jake both nodded understandingly; they were aware of Kurt's previous relationship and the amount of pain it had caused him. "I essentially threw myself away even though I wasn't completely ready because I felt like I had to prove something to him. It didn't feel good at all. Still to this day, it's one of my biggest regrets."

Michael and Jake looked at Blaine, who had the feeling there was no way around making this confession. After all, Kurt had just shared something so deeply personal, so he figured he may as well do his part and level the playing field.

"And…I was twenty-seven," he admitted, pressing his lips together into a dry smile and twisting his wedding ring nervously around his finger as he spoke. Michael and Jake both seemed slightly surprised to hear that he'd waited so long, but they were respectfully quiet as they waited for him to continue.

Blaine took Kurt's hand and held it proudly as he continued. "He was my first. He's my one and only. I know it might seem _really _pathetic that I only just lost mine last year, and that's how I felt for a while, too. But I couldn't be happier that I waited for him. I don't regret waiting at all. It's worth it when you're with someone who you know, without a doubt in your heart, that you really and truly love."

Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand as he opened his mouth to speak again. "Guys, what we're trying to say here is that you don't want your first time to be like mine, because I can almost guarantee you'll regret it if you go ahead and do it even if you're not ready. If you're going to take a lesson away from either of us, do what Blaine did and make absolutely sure that it means something."

"And of course, if either of you have any questions or ever just want to talk, we're always going to be here," Blaine added, gesturing to himself and Kurt. "Okay?"

"Yeah, I just have one question," Michael told him. "Can Jake stay over tonight?"

Kurt and Blaine shared a glance before dissolving into laughter for a few seconds.

"I don't know. Jake, would you even _want _to stay under the same roof as us after this conversation?" Kurt asked in response, still laughing a little bit. "Hopefully we didn't make this too uncomfortable for you, but you're more than welcome to stay the night as long as your parents are okay with it."

Jake's eyebrows shot up, indicating that this was clearly not the response he'd expected to hear. "Really?"

"Really," Blaine confirmed after sharing another brief glance with Kurt to ensure that they were on the same page. "You two have been together for a couple months now and obviously things are pretty serious, so I don't have a problem with it. Like Kurt said, Jake, just make sure your parents are okay with it."

"Okay." It wasn't hard to tell that Jake was unsuccessfully trying to hide a huge grin. "I'll give them a call when I'm done eating. Thanks so much."

They finally started to eat their pizza, managing to keep the conversation throughout the rest of the meal significantly less awkward for all involved. As soon as both Jake and Michael were finished eating, they were headed out of the kitchen – presumably to Michael's room – thanking Kurt and Blaine for the pizza over their shoulders as they left. Once the two of them were completely alone at the table, Kurt turned to his husband and gave him a high five.

"We're getting there," he pointed out confidently. "We might not know everything about raising a teenager, but we're on our way."

xxx

Later that night, as they were getting ready for bed, Blaine noticed that something seemed a little off about Kurt.

He crawled into bed next to his husband, who was absently staring off into the distance as he picked at a loose thread on the comforter. It didn't seem like Kurt was going to say anything, so Blaine decided he would try and get him to talk. He lay on his side, giving Kurt some space but still facing him, and propped his head up on his hand as he pulled the blankets up over himself.

"Hey, is everything okay? You don't seem like yourself right now."

Kurt shrugged noncommittally. "I'm fine," he murmured. "I guess I'm just a little upset that our plans fell through tonight, and it's just now catching up with me. I wanted this to be a really special night for you since it's our six-month anniversary, and it ended up just being a completely normal night."

Blaine instinctively moved in closer and began soothingly rubbing one hand up and down Kurt's arm, smiling to reassure him.

"Kurt, it's not your fault that our plans didn't work out," he told him gently. "And besides, we don't need to go out and have a big fancy dinner at some overpriced restaurant that couldn't even keep track of our reservation for the night to be 'special.' Just getting to be with you like this…that's special enough for me."

Kurt cracked a dry smile. "You really mean that?"

Blaine returned his smile as he took Kurt's hand and brought it to his lips, kissing the tips of his fingers as he echoed the magic words that they'd spoken to each other exactly half a year ago. "I do."

This seemed to please Kurt, whose face brightened as he moved into Blaine's arms and snuggled up close to him. Blaine felt everything inside him melt as he looked into his husband's angelic eyes and couldn't resist pushing Kurt's hair back so he could press a gentle kiss to the center of his forehead.

They stayed like that for a long time, breathing almost in unison, neither of them saying a word. Although six months had passed since their wedding – and even more since they'd officially gotten together – Blaine still had trouble believing that Kurt was really his, to have and to hold. He gently tightened his arms around Kurt, pulling him even closer, as if giving himself a tangible reminder that this beautiful man was his to love. The tiniest smile touched Kurt's lips as Blaine pulled him closer, and Blaine didn't think he'd ever been more in love with Kurt than he was just then.

After a while, Kurt slipped away from Blaine's embrace just the slightest bit and kissed the corner of his mouth. "Blaine?"

"Yeah?"

Kurt kissed his lips gently once, then broke away only to begin placing more kisses on every inch of Blaine's skin he could reach – his cheeks, his jawline, his neck, his collarbone.

"If you don't mind," he murmured, tracing Blaine's lips with his index finger as he met his gaze, "I'd still like to do what I can to make _you _feel special."

"If I don't _mind_?" Blaine repeated, laughing a little bit. "You say that as if I could ever say no to you."

Kurt sat up and pulled his shirt off before crawling over Blaine again. He inched his face close enough to Blaine's so that when he spoke, their lips just barely brushed together.

"Happy anniversary, my love," he whispered. And he couldn't say anything more after that, because Blaine was getting impatient and suddenly his lips were very busy.

xxx

Just down the hall, Michael was about to fall asleep after what had to have been the most thrilling experience of his life. It was admittedly a little bit awkward, given that it was the first time for both of them, but overall he felt good – and besides, they would only get better with practice.

He and Jake had curled up in each other's arms after all was said and done, and both were just on the verge of sleep. That is, until a sudden loud, erotic noise made his eyes fly open in startled shock.

He hoped and prayed that Jake hadn't heard it, because how embarrassing would _that _be, but sure enough, his boyfriend was suddenly wide awake as well. The two of them shared a wide-eyed glance just in time for another purely sexual moan to echo through the walls.

Jake was the first one to break the silence. "Are they…?"

In response to his unanswered question, an even longer series of various moans and groans and whimpers drifted through the thinner-than-expected drywall. Michael cringed and pulled the blankets up over his head.

"Oh my god, this is so embarrassing." His voice was muffled under the comforter.

"I wonder if this is their way of getting back at us for what they walked in on us doing earlier," Jake pointed out.

Michael shook his head, still not emerging from under the blankets. "I don't think so. They're probably just going all out since it's kind of a special night with their anniversary and everything, plus Ellie's not here so they don't have to worry about her hearing them." He immediately cringed again as he realized what he was saying. "God, okay, I need to stop talking about this. They're my parents. This is weird."

Jake was about to respond, but immediately forgot when he was about to say when the noises from the other room indicated that things were just about finishing up. There was a long, babbling string of "_Blaineblaineblaine_," followed by a deep, drawn-out moan of "_Kuuuuuurt_," and then a whole lot of other sounds, most notably a high-pitched wail (Michael's dad Kurt sure had a set of lungs on him, Jake thought incredulously) and then, finally, silence.

"So I guess that's what we'll sound like once we get more experience," Jake deadpanned after a few quiet seconds.

Michael reached up from under the covers and playfully shoved him a little bit. "Shut up, they're my _dads_."

"I'm just saying, they sure sound like they know what they're doing," Jake pointed out innocently.

Michael couldn't exactly argue with that, but at the same time, he really didn't want to think about it anymore. "Can we just pretend this didn't happen? And maybe tomorrow we can go buy them some soundproofing foam as a late anniversary present or something?"

Jake couldn't help laughing at that. "Okay, okay, good idea. This never happened. I'd be freaked out if it were my parents, too."

They found their way into each other's arms again, and eventually both of them fell asleep. If anything, the night had certainly been a learning experience.


	3. Chapter 3

Not a request/prompt, but I just got this idea in my head and thought I should write it. The next few chapters will all be prompts, I promise! This takes place a few years after the wedding. I mentioned Kurt and Blaine's youngest daughter, Natalie, briefly in the epilogue of LiBaM so this is just a little anecdote of how she came along.

* * *

3

It was the first time they'd had a chance to sit down and share a meal together as a family since the holidays, and both of the kids were already anxious to leave.

"Will this take long?" Michael asked as the four of them began digging into their meal. "I have baseball conditioning in an hour."

Kurt rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help smiling. The smile hadn't left his face ever since the night before, when he and Blaine had officially made the decision that they were about to announce to their kids.

"Probably not," he admitted, "but we still wanted to have both of you here so we can all share this good news together."

"It's good news?" Ellie asked hesitantly, frowning as she tried to cut the piece of steak on her plate into smaller bites. Her resemblance to her father hadn't faded, and as her face scrunched up in adorable frustration, she looked exactly like a nine-year-old female version of Kurt.

"Sweetie, let me help you with that." Blaine picked up his own fork and knife and pulled her plate closer to him so that he could cut her steak for her. "Yes, it's good news. We've been talking a lot about this and we couldn't wait to tell the two of you."

Kurt waited until Blaine was finished cutting Ellie's steak for her before reaching for his husband's hand and holding it lovingly on top of the table. The two of them shared a glance to make sure they were on the same page, and it was only after he had Blaine's silent support that he spoke.

"Michael and Elizabeth…," he said slowly, still smiling, "you two are going to have a new baby brother or sister later this year."

Blaine squeezed Kurt's hand happily as he continued, pleased to notice that Michael and Ellie looked excited albeit somewhat shocked. "We've decided that we want to have a baby."

Shocked silence hung over the table for a few more seconds after that before Michael decided to speak up.

"Oh my god." He laughed a little bit in disbelief, but it was clear to the other three that he was utterly thrilled about this. "I don't even know what to say. This is awesome."

Ellie was quiet for a few more seconds, a gradual smile growing on her face as the realization set in; finally she erupted in a burst of complete and total joy.

"Oh my gosh! I'm gonna be a big sister!" She leapt out of her chair, a bundle of unstoppable energy, and raced around the other side of the table to give both of her daddies a big hug. "I always wanted to be a big sister!"

"Sweetie, you're going to be a wonderful big sister," Kurt told his daughter happily as he hugged her back and kissed the top of her head. Watching her face light up with total bliss when she heard the news brought a whole new rush of love and happiness to his heart. "And we already know Michael's a wonderful big brother. This baby will be so lucky to have you two."

"I'm so psyched about this. Do you know how you're going to have it yet?" Michael asked. "Like, adoption, or surrogate, or…?"

"We already found a surrogate mother. We talked to Miss Savannah last week and she was sweet enough to agree to have the baby for us," Blaine explained. "Both of us were more comfortable with the thought of the mother being someone we both already know well. Ellie, now that you're a little bit older, it'll be really interesting for you to see how the process of surrogacy works since it's the same way you were born."

"That's cool," Ellie told them, taking her seat once again. "Who's gonna be the dad?"

Kurt and Blaine shared a wide-eyed glance. They hadn't expected her to ask this quite yet, but they figured they may as well be honest.

"We haven't decided that yet," Blaine told her honestly. "We need to talk about it some more, but when we make a decision, you two will be the first to know. I promise."

As Michael and Ellie continued to bombard the two of them with even more eager questions, Kurt found himself talking less and less, to the point where Blaine was carrying on most of the conversation with the kids. It wasn't intentional, but the more he looked at the joy in his husband's eyes as he talked about becoming a father again, the further he slipped into pensive silence.

By the end of the meal, Kurt knew what he had to do. He only hoped that Blaine would be okay with his decision, too.

xxx

Later that night, after Michael got home from conditioning, Kurt and Blaine left Ellie (who was old enough to stay home by herself, but not at night) in his care and headed out on the town. They'd made last minute plans to meet up with Emily and Savannah for drinks, and both of them left the apartment on a high unlike anything they'd experienced in a while. Neither of them was sure if their excitement was due to the fact that they'd finally told the kids about the new baby or the knowledge that it had been a while since they'd had a chance to go out and do something spontaneous with their friends. Maybe it was both. Either way, they were so full of boundless joy and warmth that they hardly noticed the chill in the air. It was late February, spring would come soon, and the seasonal meaning of new life couldn't have been more appropriate.

Upon arriving at the bar, they greeted the girls with warm hugs and the news that Michael and Ellie were thrilled about the baby. They crammed themselves into a booth and Savannah joked about how this would be her last chance to have a few drinks with everyone before the whole fertilization process started. They laughed and drank and talked, but despite the lighthearted bliss that filled the air, Kurt couldn't get the little voice in the back of his head to shut up. He knew there was something he had to get off his chest, something he'd been thinking about ever since he and Blaine broke the news to Michael and Ellie at dinner, but the moment had to be just perfect, and he wasn't sure when that perfect moment would be. It certainly wasn't going to be in the middle of a loud, crowded bar; that much he knew.

Still, when Blaine offered to get the next round and headed up to the bar, Kurt immediately leaned closer to the girls on the other side of the table the second his husband was out of earshot. "Okay, can you two keep a secret?"

"I'm assuming that Blaine doesn't know what this secret is, am I right?" Emily asked in response, running the tip of her pinky finger along the rim of her glass. "And sure, we can."

"No, Blaine doesn't know. I'm waiting for the perfect moment to tell him, but I've gotta get this off my chest."

He shot a surreptitious glance over his shoulder. Blaine was leaning against the bar with his back to their booth as the bartender mixed their drinks. Once he was sure that there was no chance his husband would overhear, he turned back toward Emily and Savannah and began spilling out everything that had been on his mind for the past few hours.

"Oh my god, Kurt, that's amazing," Savannah told him once he'd finally gotten everything out. As she continued, though, she sounded understandably skeptical. "But are you sure? You're not even going to see what he thinks?"

"I mean, of course I'm going to see what he thinks," Kurt countered. "I'll just run it by him and let him know that I really, really think we should do it this way. I honestly don't think he'll have a problem with it."

Emily shrugged and took a sip of her drink. "I don't think he will, either. And I think it's really sweet that you want to do this."

"Thank you," Kurt told her humbly with a genuine smile. "I just want—"

"Hey, Blaine!" Savannah called loudly, completely interrupting Kurt and waving at Blaine as he made his way back to their booth. Kurt was thankful that she'd saved him there, since he'd had his back to Blaine and hadn't been able to see his husband approaching. The last thing he wanted was for Blaine to find out about this by overhearing it from someone else.

Blaine was smiling as he slid back into the booth beside Kurt and began distributing the drinks he'd brought with him. "What'd I miss?"

Kurt, smooth as ever, smiled sweetly and scooted closer to him. "I was just telling these two lovely ladies how excited I am to be having this baby with you."

Savannah and Emily shared a glance, both impressed with the ease at which Kurt had told his white lie, but Blaine was too captivated by the way Kurt was looking at him to even notice the two of them.

"I couldn't ask for a better man to share this with," Blaine murmured. He wrapped his arm around Kurt's shoulder and pulled him closer so he could kiss the side of his head.

For a moment, they were in their own little world, completely oblivious to their friends across the booth from them. And in that moment, Kurt knew that he was making the right decision.

xxx

Neither of them was anywhere near drunk when they arrived home late that night – both of them had stopped drinking after two rounds – but that didn't stop them from collapsing onto the bed, kissing and tangling their bodies together and clumsily throwing clothes to the floor before beginning a round of celebratory we're-having-a-baby sex. Just short of two years into marriage, their physical relationship was still holding up wonderfully, and tonight was no different. Kurt didn't think he could ever get tired of making love with Blaine, and judging by the complete untamed passion that always encompassed his husband whenever they were together like this, he didn't think Blaine would ever get tired of it, either.

But despite how amazing it always felt to give himself so completely to Blaine, Kurt thought that one of his favorite parts of their sexual encounters just might have been the still silence in which they held each other after all was said and done. In those moments, with Blaine's arms around him and their hearts beating so closely that it was difficult to tell them apart, everything seemed absolutely perfect in Kurt's world.

_Perfect_. This was it. He couldn't hold his tongue any longer; he had to tell Blaine what had been on his mind all evening.

He picked his head up and placed a chaste kiss on the edge of his husband's jaw. "Blaine?"

"Kurt?" Blaine asked in response, smiling as he lovingly smoothed a stray strand of hair back off of Kurt's forehead.

"I've been thinking," Kurt said slowly. He lay on his side and propped his head up on his hand so he could look Blaine in the eyes; his other hand absentmindedly trailed up and down Blaine's chest as he spoke. "And I apologize if I start to ramble a little bit here. I just…now that we've decided to have this baby, I can't help but think back to the last time I was a brand new father to a newborn, back when Ellie was born. I was _so _young back then – I don't know what David and I were thinking, having a baby when we were only twenty years old – but even with that being said, I don't regret that decision at all. I remember when they placed her in my arms for the first time at the hospital and my heart felt like it was completely overflowing with love. Up until that moment, I didn't think it was possible for me to love another human being as much as I suddenly loved her. She was the only good thing that came out of my relationship with David. And when we got the paternity test done when she was six months old and we found out that she was mine…that changed things. I'm not saying I would have started to love her any less if she hadn't been mine, but suddenly everything became _that _much more clear to me. I could see that she had my eyes, my face, even my smile. There's something so wonderful about watching her grow up, knowing that she's a little part of me."

He paused for a moment, letting his hand find its way to Blaine's and linking their fingers together. As he opened his mouth to speak again, he looked right into those exquisite hazel eyes that had rendered him speechless so many times and spoke with quiet confidence.

"I know what that's like, but you don't. And I want you to have that," he continued softly. "Blaine, I want you to be the father of our baby."

Blaine was so stunned that he couldn't even speak for a few seconds. Everything Kurt had just said exemplified exactly why he loved his husband so much – he was so selfless, so loving, and never failed to put others above himself. And as Blaine looked into his magnificent glasz eyes, he could tell that Kurt was one hundred percent certain about this; that he wanted it more than anything.

He opened his mouth to speak, but he soon found that tears were pouring down his face before he could say anything. Kurt, always quick to comfort him, moved up and immediately took Blaine in his arms, letting his husband's tears soak his bare skin.

"I didn't mean to make you cry," he whispered, stroking his fingers gently through Blaine's dark curls. "I'm sorry."

"No, don't be sorry," Blaine told him as he picked his head up, smiling to reassure him. "Kurt…you just offered me the most wonderful opportunity. I…I don't even know what to say."

Kurt returned his smile as he brushed a tear off of Blaine's cheek with his index finger. "Say you'll be our baby's father and I'll be happy."

"Of course I will," Blaine told him, sniffing back another sob. "As long as that's what you want."

"I want it more than anything," Kurt said softly, pulling Blaine closer against him. "I can't think of anything that would be more perfect."

Blaine looked up at him in complete adoration, suddenly unable to say anything except for the three words that always seemed to say it all. "I love you."

"I love you too," Kurt whispered, ducking his head to kiss him softly. "And I already know I love this baby."

They stayed awake for a few minutes longer, kissing and whispering sweet nothings before falling asleep in each other's arms. Each of them knew that the next nine months were going to seem interminable, but finally getting to meet their new son or daughter would make it worth the wait.


	4. Chapter 4

Okay, so I definitely got WAY carried away with this one but I don't regret that at all. **KlainesDarknessChalet** prompted something that took place when Ellie was a baby, Dave was gone for some reason, Blaine and Kurt are kind of really obviously into each other but hesitant about showing it, and Burt and Carole totally pick up on that fact. This ended up being a lot longer than I was expecting, but it's chock full of flirty friendship fluff and I had a lot of fun with it :)

Obviously this takes place before the main storyline of LiBaM even begins, when Kurt and Dave are still together and Ellie is really little. Silly Blaine thinks he's never going to be anything more than Kurt's best friend. And yeah.

* * *

4

Blaine would have been lying if he'd said he hadn't been looking forward to this all week. And when he caught sight of Kurt slipping into the coffee shop and taking a spot at the back of the line, he immediately knew why.

Biting back a smile, he stood up from the table by the window where he'd been sitting and crept up behind Kurt, who was completely oblivious as he waited in line. As quickly and as sneakily as he could, he reached around and covered Kurt's eyes with his hands, trying not to laugh as Kurt adorably flinched with shock. "Guess who?"

He wasn't prepared for the sight that greeted him as Kurt whirled around. Blaine had gotten used to accepting the fact that the two of them would never be anything more than the best of friends, but that didn't stop him from being knocked breathless by the way Kurt's smile lit up his entire face.

"Hi! I didn't even realize you were here!" As he spoke, he practically jumped onto Blaine as he wrapped him in a hug. The two of them talked almost every day, but it had been a good two or three months since they'd seen each other in person. Both of them had been eagerly anticipating this little reunion – Blaine would not let himself think of it as a _date _– since Monday, when Kurt had called him and asked if he'd like to meet up for coffee.

He laughed as he reciprocated the hug, trying not to make it obvious that he was holding Kurt as close to him as physically possible. "I texted you like five minutes ago right after I got here and told you I had a table."

"Oh, I left my phone at home. I didn't want David trying to get ahold of me this afternoon. He thinks I'm out running errands," Kurt explained as he slipped away from the hug just slightly, as if this were completely normal. And in a way, it was – Kurt's boyfriend had made it perfectly clear that he did not approve of Kurt's friendship with Blaine, and Kurt was tired of unsuccessfully explaining to Dave Karofsky that he had the right to be friends with whoever he wanted and that nothing was going on between him and Blaine.

He sighed happily as he continued. "I can't even tell you how happy I am to see you again."

"I am, too," Blaine responded softly without even thinking.

Suddenly Blaine was undoubtedly aware that they were still standing in line, right in the middle of the coffee shop, and that both of them still had their arms loosely wrapped around each other. It almost felt as if they were in their own intimate little world, and – no, this was not right. Kurt had a boyfriend – and an almost-two-year-old _daughter_, for crying out loud – and Blaine was trying his hardest to respect that.

He gently slipped Kurt out of his arms and smiled ruefully. "C'mon, I already got your drink. Let's go sit down."

Kurt rolled his eyes but smiled as he followed Blaine over to the table. "You know my coffee order, but you don't know what I drink when it's hot outside like this," he teased. "What if I don't like whatever you got me?"

"Grande unsweetened iced green tea," Blaine said smoothly, picking up the beverage as soon as they reached the table and handing it to Kurt.

Kurt smirked but nodded in approval as they took their seats. "All right, Anderson, good job. I'm impressed that you remembered that, actually." He pulled his wallet out of his pocket, counted out the cost of his drink in singles and coins, and handed the money across the table to Blaine.

Blaine shook his head as he took a sip of his own drink – some kind of frothy Frappuccino monstrosity topped with enough whipped cream to make Kurt start thinking dirty thoughts. "I don't think so, Hummel. My treat."

"Are you sure?" Kurt asked, trying not to burst into giggles like a giddy teenage girl. Blaine looked especially gorgeous today – well, he thought, Blaine always looked gorgeous, but for some reason Kurt couldn't get over just how incredible he looked. His teenage crush on Blaine had never gone away, and Kurt had resorted to accept the fact that even though nothing had ever happened between the two of them, it would always be there.

"I'm positive." Blaine nodded, licking his lips, and Kurt's eyes went wide – god, he was _so _hot. "I might be a poor law school student, but I can afford to spoil you."

Kurt blinked and reluctantly tucked the money back into his wallet. "Oh. Well, thank you. That's very sweet." He took a sip of his iced tea and gave Blaine a warning look that was only half serious. "But don't even think about going up to that counter again. I'm not letting you leave until I buy you a gelato or something."

He smiled as he slipped his wallet back into his pocket and effectively changed the subject. "So I bet you're just dying to know why I asked you to come here today, right?"

Blaine shrugged and smiled a little bit, not saying anything. In all honesty, he didn't care why he was there; the only thing that mattered was that he was with Kurt.

"I wanted to formally invite you to spend the weekend with me," Kurt told him nonchalantly, as if he were suggesting a movie he wanted to watch. "Well, me and my dad and Carole. They're coming in for the long weekend and I thought it might be nice if you could join us."

Blaine was quiet for a moment, pretending to think so as not to seem too eager. It was Memorial Day weekend, his workload at law school was actually relatively lenient as of late – a rare occurrence – but even if he'd had an obscene amount of work to do, he still would have taken Kurt up on his offer. Time with Kurt was a precious commodity, seeing as how he didn't get a whole lot of it, and there was no way he could refuse.

"I would love to," he said. Then, because it didn't seem right not to be at least somewhat skeptical: "But…what about Dave?"

"He won't be here!" Kurt said cheerfully. He almost sounded _happy _that his boyfriend wouldn't be around. "His company is having some kind of golf outing in Myrtle Beach this weekend, so he'll be all the way down in South Carolina. He's home with Ellie right now, finishing packing, and he's flying out tomorrow morning."

Well, that certainly changed things. Blaine's eyes widened as he took a long sip of his Frappuccino, and Kurt didn't miss the fact that he suddenly seemed extremely interested now that he knew that Dave wasn't going to be around.

"But won't he be upset when he finds out?" Blaine asked after another brief silence.

"He'll understand, I think. My parents will be there, too, so it's not like it's _just _going to be the two of us alone in my apartment," Kurt explained.

He picked up his iced tea and took a long sip. Blaine watched him intently, noting the way his glasz eyes seemed to dart around almost nervously as he set the cup back on the table and began to play absentmindedly with the straw, pursing his lips a little bit as he spoke carefully.

"Or maybe I just won't tell him," Kurt continued quietly, not meeting Blaine's eyes.

Blaine wasn't sure why, but suddenly he felt his heart beating at top speed. He was actually going to spend three whole nights at Kurt's apartment, while a completely oblivious Dave was hundreds of miles away. Granted, he knew nothing was going to happen between the two of them – he was certain that Kurt didn't have feelings for him, and even if he did, Kurt didn't seem like the type to cheat on his significant other. Still, he knew that this was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

"I think that's a good idea," Blaine agreed, trying to keep his tone as even as possible.

"Great!" Kurt certainly seemed happy, and that was all Blaine wanted. "I'm so glad you can come. I feel like I hardly get to see you anymore."

"Well, I think we both know why that is," Blaine blurted without thinking.

The second he said it, he wished he could take it back, but thankfully Kurt seemed unfazed. He rolled his eyes as he took a long sip of his iced tea, wordlessly acknowledging that his boyfriend's possessiveness could be ridiculous at times.

"It shouldn't be this big of a deal. David just refuses to accept the fact that I happen to be best friends with another gay guy," Kurt assured him. "Which shouldn't even matter, because you and I have been friends for longer than he and I have been together. But I'm sick of explaining that to him, and he refuses to accept it. It's just easier this way."

Kurt was averting his gaze again, his magnificent eyes staring blankly at some vague spot on the table, and Blaine took advantage of this brief moment to drink him in. They'd been friends for years, but Blaine knew a part of him would never stop wanting Kurt, even though nothing had ever happened between the two of them. Right now, he had half a mind to reach over the table and surprise Kurt with a kiss sweet enough to make him forget all his apprehensions. He wanted to cradle Kurt's soft cheek in his hand and look into his beautiful eyes, all while assuring him that everything was going to be okay.

But he didn't, because he knew there was no way someone as perfect as Kurt would ever want him in that way. Besides, he didn't need to give Dave Karofsky another excuse to hate his guts even more.

"Can I ask you something?" Blaine asked after reflecting on this for a moment.

Kurt nodded. "Anything."

Blaine tried to maintain eye contact, but it was too difficult. Kurt was so beautiful, almost intimidatingly so, and suddenly he felt as if he were laying his heart on the line with his next question.

"If you know Dave doesn't like me…why do you even bother?"

A pang of tenderness touched Kurt's heart, and he was reminded once again of just how deeply he loved Blaine. He tried to let that love and affection come through without coming on too strongly as he responded.

"Blaine…," he said, smiling softly as he reached across the table to cover Blaine's hand with his own. He looked into the other man's piercing hazel eyes, trying to retain his composure. "You are my best friend."

_And that's all I'll ever be_, Blaine thought despondently. But it's not like he could say that, so he settled for giving Kurt a wordless nod of agreement.

"In fact, you're more than that," Kurt continued. "You're the best friend I've ever had. Why do I bother? I bother because I care about our friendship too much to just let it go. You were there for me when nobody else was. Whether David likes it or not, I'm not going to let him convince me to throw this away. I'm not giving you up that easily." He smiled reassuringly as he gave Blaine's hand a squeeze before letting go. "Okay?"

"Okay," Blaine agreed, this time with a genuine smile. He would never be able to love Kurt the way he wanted to love him – that much was certain – but at least he still managed to get lucky enough to call this amazing man his best friend.

xxx

That Friday morning, barely twenty minutes had passed since Kurt had kissed Dave goodbye at the door and wished him a safe flight when his phone vibrated with a text message from Blaine.

_Leaving now. I'll be there in a few_.

Kurt bit back a smile as he tucked his phone away and headed down the hall to Ellie's room. Now that both his parents and Blaine were on their way and Dave was gone, he was truly excited for the weekend to begin. He quietly opened the door to his daughter's bedroom and knelt beside her toddler bed to wake her up from her midmorning nap with a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

His daughter's eyes – perfect reflections of Kurt's own – slowly fluttered open. "Daddy," she said, and instinctively reached up to him with her tiny arms.

Kurt smiled tenderly as he lifted his little girl out of her bed. At 21 months, Ellie continued to amaze him more and more every single day with how much she was learning and growing. He fell more in love with her with each passing second.

"Good morning, sweetheart. Did you have a nice nap?" he asked her.

Ellie, always his little spider monkey, fastened her arms securely around his neck and nodded into his shoulder. "Yeah."

"Good." He smiled and smoothed her brunette hair back so he could kiss the side of her angelic face. "Papa already left for his trip, but you and I are having company today. Grandpa Burt and Grandma Carole are coming to visit, and so is Mr. Blaine."

"Grandma and Grandpa and Mr. Blaine!" Ellie repeated happily. She had met Blaine several times and, much to Kurt's delight, was completely enamored with him.

"That's right," Kurt told her with a smile as he carried her out into the hallway. "They'll be here in just a few minutes, but I'm going to fix your lunch first. How does mac and cheese sound?"

"Good," Ellie told him, nodding in agreement. "With apple juice?"

"What's the magic word?" Kurt asked her in response.

Ellie tried again. "Apple juice, please?"

"Absolutely," Kurt told her.

He set her down in her high chair and pulled a blue box of macaroni and cheese out of the cabinet, then reached over to flick on the stovetop. He wanted to get a head start on fixing Ellie's lunch so that he wouldn't have to worry about her as much when his parents and Blaine arrived. Sure enough, as soon as he'd dumped the contents of the box into the pot he'd placed on the stove, there was a knock at the door.

It was Burt and Carole, which Kurt had expected since they had left earlier than Blaine had – but as it turned out, Blaine wasn't too far behind. Kurt had just finished greeting his father and stepmother with hugs and was in the process of ushering them through the door, when a voice from further down the hall made all of them turn around almost simultaneously.

"Wait! Don't shut the door, I'm right here!"

Sure enough, Blaine was right at the end of the hallway. Kurt wasn't sure what possessed him to do what he did next, but instead of simply waiting for Blaine to make it to the door of his apartment, he found himself stepping into the hallway and quickly pacing to meet him.

The two of them were wearing matching smiles as they embraced, completely oblivious to the look Burt and Carole were sharing in the doorway of Kurt's apartment. As silly as it sounded, every time they hugged like this, Blaine felt like he and Kurt were the only two people in the world for the brief seconds that they spent in each other's arms. He closed his eyes as he squeezed Kurt closer to him, imagining for just a brief second that Kurt was his.

But too soon, it was over, and Blaine found himself plummeting back to earth with the harsh force of reality.

"I'm so glad you guys could make it," Kurt was saying, chattering excitedly as he led them into the apartment. "I thought it would be nice for Ellie and me to have some company while David's gone for the long weekend."

Throughout the rest of the afternoon, Kurt was nothing but a perfect host. Blaine had admittedly been slightly nervous on the drive there, fearing what would happen if Dave somehow found out that he'd been there, but his inhibitions melted away almost as quickly as they'd arrived, thanks to Kurt. And even as Kurt was serving them food or making sure they had enough to drink or doing whatever else was necessary to keep his guests satisfied, Blaine couldn't help but let his gaze linger on Kurt, who was blissfully unaware of the fact that Blaine was essentially staring at him. But truth be told, Blaine was constantly amazed by Kurt, even while the latter was in the process of doing seemingly mundane, normal, everyday things. But Kurt had a special way about him that made even the blandest of tasks look intriguing to Blaine, because Kurt was absolute perfection.

Perfection, Blaine thought somberly, that would never be his.

xxx

"Okay, how about that?" Blaine asked, turning to Ellie for approval. "Is that tall enough?"

Kurt's daughter took one look at the small tower Blaine had constructed out of wooden blocks, then promptly shook her head. "No, taller."

"Oh, gosh darn it!" Blaine exclaimed with false annoyance, pushing a few more blocks across the carpet to Ellie. "Here, why don't you show me how tall we have to make it? You're better at this than I am, that's for sure."

Kurt slipped out of the kitchen and handed a can of soda to his Burt, who was engrossed in the Indians game on TV, and smiled as he sank down next to Blaine on the carpet in front of the couch.

"They haven't taught you how to build block towers in law school, huh?" he joked with a tiny smile.

Blaine shook his head as he watched Ellie stack more blocks onto the tower he'd started. "I must have been absent that day."

"It's an acquired skill," Kurt told him. "This one-," he nodded at Ellie, "won't let you get up until you make the tower as obnoxiously high as it could possibly go."

As he spoke, Ellie was in the process of building the tower so high that she had to stand up in order to reach the top and add more blocks. Kurt, noticing that she was blocking Burt's view of the television, got her attention and tried to move her away. "Sweetie, let's bring the blocks over here, out of the way. Grandpa's trying to watch TV."

"Oh, don't make her move, she's fine," Burt said. "This tower is much more impressive than what the Tribe's doing, anyway." He grabbed the remote and muted the television just as the Indians' pitcher walked a batter from the opposing team.

The tower was so tall that it was starting to wobble, and Ellie didn't seem to think it would be a good idea to add any more blocks. She reached over and tapped Kurt's arm excitedly. "Look, Daddy! Me and Mr. Blaine made a tower!"

Blaine knew that the tower he and Ellie had constructed was probably not unlike the wooden-block creations Kurt had seen several times before throughout his daughter's short life, but he had to give Kurt credit for how genuinely impressed he sounded.

"Wow, that's incredible! I think that's the tallest tower I've ever seen. Good job, Ellie." Then, turning to Blaine and smirking a little bit, "Good job, Mr. Blaine."

"Why thank you, Mr. Kurt," Blaine responded with a mischievous smile.

Ellie had her back to the two of them as she picked up her blocks, so Kurt gave Blaine a playful shove. "Don't 'Mr. Kurt' me."

"I'm sorry, Mr. _Hummel_," Blaine cracked.

Kurt was in his first year of teaching music at the local elementary school and was still getting used to responding to an authoritative title like _Mr. Hummel_. "Now you sound like one of my kids."

Blaine didn't get a chance to get him back for that, because Kurt's attention was back on Ellie, who had just finished cleaning up her blocks.

"Good job picking up your toys," Kurt told her. His eyes were bright and his smile widened as he continued, as if he'd just come up with a wonderful idea. "Hey, you know what would be fun? Let's go to the park so you can play on the playground. Does that sound good?"

Ellie's face brightened into the beautiful smile she'd inherited from Kurt. She jumped up and down excitedly. "Playground!"

Kurt was just about to ask the rest of the group to see who else would like to come, but someone else beat him to it. Carole, who had been sitting in the armchair flipping through a magazine so quietly that Kurt had almost forgotten she was there, spoke up before he got a chance to do so.

"Kurt, your father and I can take her to the park. Why don't you and Blaine stay here and relax for an hour or so, enjoy the peace and quiet?"

Blaine's eyes widened and his heart rate picked up as he considered the thought of actually spending time with Kurt in his apartment all by themselves, but Kurt didn't notice as he responded to his stepmother. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," Carole told him. "We don't mind. Right, Burt?"

Burt had been spacing out for a few seconds, watching the game on the still-muted TV, but snapped to attention when his wife said his name.

"Oh, yeah, no problem," he said. "We can go. You guys stay here."

Kurt smiled at his daughter. "Grandma and Grandpa are going to take you to the playground. Be a good girl for them, okay?"

"Okay!" Ellie agreed happily.

He helped her put her shoes on, then knelt down to give her a hug before she left with Burt and Carole. Blaine watched adoringly from a distance, unable to bite back a smile as Kurt suddenly lifted Ellie up and playfully spun her around a few times, eliciting an eruption of giggles from the little girl. Kurt was such an amazing father, and seeing him with his daughter only made Blaine fall for him even harder.

Once Ellie, Burt and Carole were on their way, Kurt closed the door behind them and turned around only to see Blaine standing a few feet away with the most adoring smile on his face.

"What's with the face?" Kurt joked as he sauntered into the living room and plopped himself lazily down onto the couch.

"You are literally such a good dad," Blaine told him with shameless amazement as he sat on the other end of the couch. "It's adorable."

"Thanks," Kurt told him, and if Blaine wasn't mistaken, his pale skin was turning the slightest shade of blushing pink. "Honestly, though, it's not that hard to do when I've got such an amazing kid."

"Well, she's lucky to have such an amazing father," Blaine said without thinking. Then, to save face, he added, "_Two _amazing fathers."

Kurt gave him a humble little smile of thanks, and the room was silent for a moment. On the television, fans were jumping around wildly in the stands as several runners rounded the bases and touched home. Someone on the Indians had just hit a grand slam to put them in the lead; Kurt wondered if his father was listening to the game on the radio in the car as they drove to the park.

He picked up the remote and flicked the TV off before turning to Blaine with what was suddenly a burning question. "Can I ask you something a bit personal?"

Blaine shrugged, never one to hide anything from Kurt (save for the fact that Blaine was secretly in love with him, but that was another story). "Sure. Anything."

"Have you ever thought about having kids?" Kurt asked.

The question took Blaine by surprise, and he was silent for a second. Kurt took advantage of this to try and put some context behind his question.

"I just was thinking, y'know…when you were playing with Ellie just now, and every time you've been around her, it always amazes me how good you are with her," Kurt explained. "You'd make an amazing dad someday, too. I just didn't know if it was anything you'd ever considered."

"I definitely don't think I'm ready now," Blaine admitted. "You and Dave are braver souls than I am, having a kid at our age. I don't know how you two do it." He laughed a little bit before he continued. "But, I mean…someday, when I meet the right guy that I'd like to start a family with, then yeah. I honestly can't think of anything I'd love more."

He sighed and clasped his hands behind his head, staring off straight ahead of him as he continued. "But I don't know if that's ever gonna happen. Almost every single waking moment of my life is dedicated to law school, and I know that won't change when I get a job as a real lawyer. I don't know if I'll ever have time to date, let alone find a serious relationship, let alone start a family with someone. I feel like I'm going to end up as one of those married-to-my career-type people, and that kinda scares me."

He ran one hand nervously through his dark hair; Kurt knew him well enough by now to know that this was one of Blaine's most prominent anxious habits. He moved over closer to him on the couch just slightly and placed a gentle hand on his forearm.

"Hey."

At the sound of Kurt's soft voice and the sensation of his touch, Blaine immediately picked his head up and turned to meet the glasz gaze that still rendered him speechless at times. He was glad that Kurt continued speaking next, because he wasn't entirely sure if he would have remembered how to talk had he attempted to do so.

"You're gonna find him," Kurt reassured him tenderly. He began tracing his fingers up and down Blaine's forearm as he spoke, trying to soothe him with his touch as well as his words. "You're gonna find that special guy someday. And when you meet him, it'll be everything you ever dreamed and more. And when the time is right, you and him will start a beautiful family together, and you will be _such _an amazing dad to some lucky little boy or girl."

He moved his hand down to curl over Blaine's and gave it a quick squeeze before letting go. As he spoke, he tried to ignore the fact that his own heart suddenly felt like it was breaking. As selfish as it was, he didn't want to picture Blaine with anyone else. He wanted Blaine to be with _him_.

But he knew that the chances of that happening were absolutely impossible – Blaine would always be his best friend, and nothing more – so he forced himself to keep smiling.

"It'll happen when the time's right," Kurt continued. "You'll find that boy someday, I promise."

Blaine looked back into Kurt's eyes, wondering what would happen if he said what was really on his mind. _I've already found him. You're that boy, Kurt. You're him. You're my somebody. _

Instead, he didn't say anything at all and opted to lean forward and wrap Kurt in a hug. He didn't trust himself to speak in that moment, so he settled for pulling Kurt as close to him as physically possible. After a few seconds, he felt the muscles in Kurt's arms constricting as he squeezed Blaine closer, and for some reason Blaine wanted to cry.

He blinked back the tears that were in his eyes and let his gaze flicker away as they slipped away from the hug. "Thanks," he mumbled, his voice so low that Kurt had to lean in a little closer to hear him properly. "I guess that's just been on my mind a lot lately and I haven't really been able to get it off my chest."

His efforts to blink away his tears were fruitless, because Kurt must have noticed as one of them broke loose and slipped down his face. He reached forward and grabbed a few napkins that had been on the coffee table, handing them to Blaine with a rueful smile.

"Please don't cry," Kurt urged him gently. "It's nothing to get upset over. It'll happen when the time is right for you, that's all."

Blaine shook his head as he smeared the tears away from his eyes with the napkins Kurt had handed him. "No, no, I'm not sad," he reassured him. "These are happy tears. I'm crying because…because you said everything I've needed to hear lately."

Kurt shrugged noncommittally, as if had been no big deal. "As your best friend, it's my job to tell you what you need to hear," he said. "And it's _your _job to trust me." He shifted on the couch, turning completely toward Blaine, and placed his hands on the other man's shoulders so that Blaine had no choice but to direct his attention straight to him. "So believe me when I say this. You _will _find somebody, Blaine. You're going to make some lucky, lucky man very happy someday."

For a second after he spoke, Kurt wondered if he'd said too much, but tried to brush off the feeling of doubt. He tried his best to always be honest with Blaine, the one exception being the fact that he had yet to tell Blaine straight up that he had very strong feelings for him. In fact, in the back of his mind, part of him still hung onto the tiny fraction of impossible hope that _he _would be the lucky man that Blaine would love someday.

But he didn't have much time to think about this, because suddenly Blaine was standing up from the couch, wearing that goofy smile that Kurt absolutely adored.

"I feel like I need to treat you after you just sat here and put up with me whining just now," Blaine was saying. "What do you say we take a walk down the street and get some ice cream?"

Kurt smiled as he stood up and began heading to the closet where he kept his shoes. "I think that's a fantastic idea, especially considering that I don't have to worry about a certain little someone begging me for ice cream," he said, thinking of Ellie. "But don't think for a second that you're treating me. I still owe you for our little coffee shop date earlier this week."

Blaine froze in place for a second, struck with shock that Kurt had actually referred to their little reunion as a _date_, then snapped out of it and headed toward the door so he could slip into his own shoes as Kurt continued.

"We can bring our ice cream back here and see what Carrie and the girls are up to today," Kurt suggested. "Sound good?"

"Definitely," Blaine agreed. It seemed like forever since they'd indulged in a _Sex and the City _marathon together – it had at least been since before Ellie was born, if not longer ago than that.

He followed Kurt out the door, letting his mind wander back to the conversation they'd had just a few minutes ago. He'd always admired the fact that Kurt was honest to a fault with him, but he couldn't help but replay one particular soundbite from their heart-to-heart over and over in his head.

_You're going to make some lucky, lucky man very happy someday_.

As they walked and chatted on their way to the tiny little ice cream shop down the street, Blaine tried to ignore the ache in his heart that wanted nothing more than for Kurt to be that man.

xxx

Burt had barely gotten himself settled on one of the benches that dotted the perimeter of the playground area when he felt himself being stared at.

He turned to look at his wife, who he hadn't even realized had sat down next to him. He knew Carole well enough by now to know that she was just about bursting with excitement, trying to contain some kind of juicy secret.

Burt rolled his eyes but smiled as he acknowledged her. "Okay, what's the dirt? I know there's a reason you wanted to bring me here without Kurt around."

"You didn't notice?" Carole asked, sounding genuinely surprised. "Burt, oh my god. You'd have to be blind not to notice."

"Notice what?" Burt asked, still confused.

It was Carole's turn to roll her eyes.

"Kurt and Blaine!" she exclaimed in disbelief. "Those two are _crazy _for each other. I swear, if I didn't know better, I would have thought they were a married couple. They're ridiculously in love, even if they won't admit it."

Burt had always liked Blaine Anderson, and even though he would never admit this to Kurt, he'd always thought that his son would be better suited for someone like Blaine. But as much as he wanted to believe his wife's judgment, he had to remain as levelheaded as possible.

Trying to buy time, he shot a quick glance around the toddler play area, pretending to look for Ellie even though he could see her just fine.

"Yeah, but just because they seem like they're 'in love' doesn't mean, y'know, _romantic _love," Burt pointed out after stalling for a few seconds. "It could be one of those…what do the kids today call it? A bromance? Where two guys are such good friends that they love each other like brothers. Maybe that's it."

Carole snorted. "If that's brotherly love, then I'm glad for your sake that Kurt was an only child," she deadpanned, shaking her head. "No, it's definitely way more than that."

Burt turned to look at her straight on. "You really think something's going on with them?"

"Well, I don't think there is right now," Carole admitted. "Kurt would never cheat on Dave, but I think something _could _happen between him and Blaine if he and Dave ever broke up, that's for sure. I've never seen two people who look more in love with each other than they do, and they're not even together."

Burt was still trying to wrap his mind around all of this, but as the pieces fell into place, he realized that everything his wife was saying made perfect sense the more he considered it. Kurt seemed to display a special kind of affection toward Blaine that was unlike that which he displayed to anyone else, including Dave.

"Do you think Kurt would leave Dave to be with Blaine?" he asked cautiously.

Carole didn't answer for a few seconds. She reached into her purse under the bench and pulled out the bottle of Diet Pepsi she'd brought with her, then unscrewed the cap and took a long sip before she finally responded.

"Kurt's going to marry that boy someday," she said simply, not directly answering Burt's question. "I'm sure of it."

"You want to put money on that?" Burt challenged.

Carole raised one eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

Burt shook his head. "I'm kidding. I'm not gonna bet on my kid's future."

"Just watch how he and Blaine act around each other through the rest of this weekend," Carole told him. "If you haven't already seen what I'm talking about, you will."

She took another sip of her pop before she continued. "And when we're at their wedding, watching them exchange vows, don't say I didn't tell you so."

Burt, defeated by this point, rolled his eyes again before turning his attention back to the playground. He caught sight of Ellie near the top of one of the slides and shook his head, muttering under his breath.

"You were totally gonna put money on that."

xxx

Throughout the next few days, Burt became incredibly aware of what Carole had been talking about, and he almost wanted to slap himself upside the head for not having noticed it earlier.

He noticed the way Kurt would lean forward and enthusiastically grab Blaine's hand as they conversed about something particularly exciting. He noticed the sparkle that lit up Blaine's eyes whenever he looked at Kurt and the affectionate undertone in his voice whenever he said Kurt's name. He noticed the way they sometimes seemed to look at each other as if they couldn't and didn't want to see anything else in the world.

On the last night they spent at Kurt's apartment, Burt stepped into the guest bedroom he was sharing with Carole after taking a shower. His wife was already in bed, reading a paperback novel which she promptly closed and set on the bedside table the second Burt walked into the room.

She was smirking victoriously at him, looking extremely proud of herself, and Burt knew exactly why. He threw up his hands in defeat and paused in the doorway. "Don't even say it."

Carole went ahead and said it anyway. "I told you so!"

Burt sighed and closed the door behind him before crossing the room and crawling under the covers beside his wife. "God, those two sure are crazy about each other." He looked at Carole helplessly. "Am I a terrible person for wanting to tell Kurt that they'd be perfect together?"

"If that makes you a terrible person, then we're in the same boat, because I want to do the exact same thing," Carole admitted. "But I don't think it's our place to say anything to him. As much as I think Kurt should be with Blaine, leaving Dave is going to break up his family no matter how he does it. I'd feel terrible if either one of us were responsible for that. That's something he needs to decide on his own."

"Good point," Burt conceded. "I guess I just wonder why neither of them ever told the other how they felt."

Carole shrugged. "They were immature teenage boys, probably scared of rejection. And now that Kurt's with Dave and they have a child together, both of them probably think it's too late."

"As corny as this sounds," Burt said carefully, "is it really ever too late for true love?"

"I guess only time will tell," Carole said. "All we can do is sit back and let fate run its course."

xxx

It had been months since Ellie had last woken up crying in the middle of the night, but old habits die hard, and Kurt had grown accustomed to randomly waking up in the dead of night at some ungodly hour. It was no surprise, then, when he opened his eyes and turned to look at the glowing green numbers of his alarm clock, only to be informed that it was 3:23 a.m.

He rolled his eyes and pulled the blankets closer around himself as he turned over and tried to go back to sleep. Dave's absence meant that he had all the covers to himself, which was kind of nice (Dave was the blanket-hogging type), but even with that being said, he struggled to get back to sleep. He tossed and turned unsuccessfully for a few minutes before forcing himself to accept the fact that he was wide awake.

As quietly as possible, he stood up from the bed and left his room, thinking he would head out to the kitchen to get a glass of water. He stopped in Ellie's room to check on her, leaving the door open just a crack as he left, then sneaked past the guest bedroom where his parents were staying. As he cut through the living room to the kitchen, he made a conscious effort to be as quiet as he possibly could so as not to wake Blaine, who was sleeping on the couch.

Once in the kitchen, he opened the cabinet and reached for a glass only to be startled by a sudden voice just as he grabbed it.

"Kurt?"

At the sound of his name, Kurt whirled around with a start, borderline breaking the glass he'd just taken. Leaving the cabinet wide open and the glass abandoned on the counter, he cautiously stepped out of the kitchen and into the living room.

"Blaine? I'm so sorry, did I wake you up?"

Blaine was sitting up on the couch, the blankets Kurt had given him pooled around his lap. He shook his head. "Oh, no, don't worry about it. I've been up. Can't sleep, for some reason."

"That makes two of us," Kurt mumbled, sinking down onto the couch beside Blaine.

It was quiet for a moment after he spoke. Blaine wanted to say something, but he couldn't – not when he'd been struck breathless by the way the moonlight was streaming in through the window and gleaming off of Kurt's pale skin, almost making him glow. He was so unbelievably beautiful, even at-

Hey, there was something he could say to fill the silence. "What time is it, anyway?"

"It's like almost four in the morning," Kurt told him, laughing humorlessly. "I think I've just gotten used to waking up randomly in the middle of the night because Ellie used to wake up crying. If you ever decide to have kids, just be aware that your sleep schedule will never be the same again."

"I'll keep that in mind," Blaine told him.

It was silent again, but not awkward – the quietness that hung over the room was the peaceful kind of silence that one would expect to fill a space at this hour. Kurt was the first of the two to break it, and when he did, his voice was so soft that even Blaine could barely hear him.

"I'm so happy you could come and spend the weekend here," he said quietly. "I've really missed you."

Blaine smiled tenderly, hoping Kurt could see how sincere he was even in the darkness. "I've missed you too, Kurt. Thank you for having me. I would have been sitting around really bored this weekend if it wasn't for you." He giggled a little bit.

"Hey, what are best friends for?" Kurt asked, smiling softly.

"Alleviating boredom, apparently," Blaine joked. "But in all seriousness, I'm glad you're mine."

Neither of them missed the romantic twist to his words. Blaine heard it as soon as he'd said it, but made no effort to correct himself.

They stayed up until an even later ungodly hour, talking about anything and everything that came to mind. And as he eventually drifted off to sleep, Blaine found himself smiling just the tiniest bit as he thought about how lucky he was. He would rather have Kurt in his life as just a friend than not have him in his life at all, and Blaine knew he'd gotten luckier than he ever dreamed he would just by having a friend like Kurt.

xxx

When Blaine woke up the next morning, he hadn't even opened his eyes when he noticed that he was snuggled up against something warm. And soft. And breathing.

His eyes flew open and he was about to jump away with a start when he realized that the warm, soft, breathing somebody that he was kind of draped on top of was Kurt. Kurt, who was still fast asleep, his chest rising and falling with the rhythm of his breath.

Blaine blinked the sleep from his eyes and took a moment to try and get a grip on how this had happened. Kurt was asleep in what had to have been an uncomfortable sitting position, his back against the armrest of the couch and his legs tucked under him. Blaine, half-sitting and half-laying down, had somehow fallen forward so that his head was leaning against Kurt's chest. Kurt's left arm had somehow ended up draped over Blaine's shoulder, and even though Blaine knew that Kurt must have made the movement unconsciously, he knew this was the closest he'd ever get to sleeping in Kurt's arms.

He figured the two of them must have stayed up so late talking in the middle of the night that they'd just fallen asleep like this on accident. After all, it's not like he could imagine himself deliberately ending up in a position like this on purpose.

But now that the opportunity was here, why shouldn't he take advantage of it?

Part of him knew that this wasn't right, that he should have stood up and left Kurt there to sleep, but an even bigger part of him wanted to feel what it was like to be close to Kurt like this. He closed his eyes, head still resting on Kurt's chest, and lost himself in every wonderful sensation. As quietly as possible, Blaine inhaled deeply, breathing him in. Kurt smelled fresh and clean and like something else that was just so uniquely _Kurt_. Blaine lay still for what seemed like a perfect eternity, listening to Kurt's heart beat beneath his ear, letting himself imagine just for a moment that Kurt loved him.

But as much as he would have loved to stay like that forever, Blaine knew it was probably a bad idea to keep his eyes closed. The last thing he wanted was to fall back to sleep and miss how wonderful this felt. He let his eyes drift slowly open, letting his gaze sweep over as much of Kurt's sleeping body as he could see, finally traveling up to the face that he wanted to wake up next to every morning for the rest of his life.

Kurt's face was so beautiful, so peaceful and serene in sleep that Blaine almost wanted to cry. It took every last crumb of his willpower not to reach up and caress the soft, pale skin of Kurt's cheek. No – if given the chance, Blaine knew he would do more than simply touch. He wanted to kiss every single inch of Kurt's perfect face, paying special attention to his beautiful lips.

_Oh god_. Now that Blaine was thinking about Kurt's lips, he realized that he was quite possibly closer to them than he'd ever been before. They were a sweet shade of pink and lusciously full; Blaine would have bet that they were incredibly soft and tasted delicious. He was so close that it would have been all too easy for Blaine to kiss them if he wanted to.

And oh, boy, did he want to.

But before he could completely lose himself in that thought and do something that could put both him and Kurt in an awkward position, his conscience struck and he recoiled back with so much force that he was honestly surprised Kurt didn't wake up. Who the hell did he think he was? Why would he ever think that he had the right to kiss a man who had never expressed any romantic interest in him whatsoever and who was perfectly happy with a family of his own? Blaine sat up and buried his head in his hands, completely disgusted with himself for having been so inappropriate. He really needed to try and destroy the fragment of hope that remained in his heart, the one that made him stupidly believe that he still had any shot in hell with Kurt, and he had to force himself to accept the fact that _nothing was ever going to happen_.

He took a long look at Kurt's peaceful, sleeping face – this time from a much greater distance, so that Kurt wouldn't have been nearly as shocked if he'd opened his eyes at that exact moment – and sighed as he accepted reality.

_I love him enough that I can respect the fact that he will never be mine. All I care about is that he's happy_.

He stood up from the couch, pulled a clean set of clothes out of the suitcase he'd stashed beneath the coffee table, and headed down the hall to the bathroom so he could shower, trying to ignore the tears that burned his eyes the entire time.

xxx

Kurt knew that Blaine had to know that they'd accidentally fallen asleep together on the couch the night before. After all, when Kurt had woken up, Blaine had already showered and gotten dressed for the day, so he figured Blaine had to have noticed their accidental sleeping arrangement when he'd woken up. But neither of them acknowledged it, and Kurt figured that was a good thing – it was much easier, much less awkward that way.

But even though he knew it was wrong, deep inside he was upset that he hadn't woken up even for a few seconds as he slept by Blaine's side. He'd been completely unconscious after he'd fallen asleep on the couch, unaware of the fact that the man he secretly loved was mere feet? inches? away from him. Kurt wished that he could have felt what that was like.

As he said goodbye to Blaine and his father and Carole that afternoon, he tried to convince himself that it was better to accept the fact that he and Blaine would always be friends, nothing more. He would still get to have Blaine in his life that way, not to mention the fact that there was no risk of splitting up his family. Besides, he was happy with Dave and he loved the life they shared together. He wasn't about to put that all on the line by admitting feelings to Blaine that he knew Blaine didn't return.

But as he hugged his best friend goodbye and looked into those breathtakingly gorgeous hazel eyes, he became dangerously close to breaking down right then and there and saying it. The words were right there on the tip of his tongue: _I love you, Blaine_. It seemed like such an easy, natural thing to say, because he knew that it was true. He knew deep in his heart that this was the man he would choose to spend the rest of his life with if he had the choice.

But he couldn't say it. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to verbalize those words. Instead, he heard himself saying, "Thanks so much for coming; it was great seeing you."

Blaine's smile seemed to be genuine, so at least that was a good sign.

"Nice seeing you, too," he said. "Let me know when you want to meet up for coffee again."

He gave Kurt one last hug – something that did not go unnoticed by Burt and Carole – and then the three of them were waving goodbye as they headed out the door.

The apartment was almost eerily silent after Kurt shut the door behind them. He'd put Ellie down for her nap right before everyone had left, and Dave wouldn't be home for another four hours. There was nothing like the feeling of abrupt loneliness right after he'd just been surrounded with so much joy.

To give himself something to do, he turned the TV on for background noise as he began to clean up the apartment. He picked up everything that would have signaled that there had been guests over, feeling strangely like a teenager trying to clean up from a house party before his parents returned home. After meticulously checking every last corner, nook and cranny to ensure that all the evidence of the weekend was gone, he flopped down on the couch. The TV was still turned to a sports channel from when Burt and Blaine had been watching a game the night before; Kurt promptly picked up the remote and changed the channel to something that would have made more sense for him to watch, erasing the last piece of evidence.

By the time Dave got home, it was as if nobody else had been there at all.

* * *

I'm working on filling these prompts in the order that I get them. If you've left a prompt request either as a review on this story or via private message, it's already on my list of things to write (if you sent one via Tumblr, you might want to send it again because I deleted my blog so I don't have those prompts anymore). I'll get to all of them as soon as I can, so keep them coming!


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